SUMMER COMPETITIONS

Premier League QLD

The Premier League QLD (PLQ) competition kicked off January 8, 2022 with 14 teams. The Pine Rivers Pirates who won in 2021 return to defend their PLQ Title after claiming it from the 2020 winners, Tweed Heads. The finals weekend will be held on March 19-20, 2022. Selected matches will be livestreamed each weekend. Go to the Premier League Facebook page for more information: facebook.com/Premier-LeagueQueensland

Q7s-Qld

The Q7s-Qld is run as a home and away format, within divisions and sections where teams play each other, once on their home green and once on opponents green. Q7s-Qld is therefore conducted with six teams per section, which takes ten weeks; plus two to three weeks of finals.

The first round kicked off on February 5, 2022 and the Semi Finals and Grand Finals will be held on Sunday April 3, 2022. Go to the Q7s-Qld website for more information: p7s-qld.com

Great Bowls Challenge

The Great Bowls Challenge has three divisions for both men and women and is played in Brisbane and across the Sunshine Coast. With eight bowlers per team, players compete in a two pairs and a fours format across six weeks with each team playing home and away. Round 1 commenced on Saturday February 4, 2022 and the Quarter Semi Finals will be held on March 26, 2022. The Grand Final Round Robin will be on April 2, 2022.

Go to the Great Bowls Challenge website for more information: greatbowlschallenge.com.au

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Another exciting year of bowls has commenced with the QLD Junior State Championships complete and summer competitions underway. 2021 was a challenging year again with the impacts of COVID-19; fingers crossed our calendar is not hampered this year and events are able to go ahead as planned. All the best to districts, clubs and members across the State for the year ahead. Qld Sports Awards I attended the Qld Sports Awards evening late last year with Kane Nelson who was a finalist in the 2021 The Courier Mail Channel 7 Queensland Junior Sport Star of the Year. Congratulations Kane on being a finalist and well done to Mollie O’Callaghan who won the award for swimming.

Supporting finalist Kane Nelson (centre) at the Qld Sports Awards were Jacob Nelson (left) and Brett Wilkie (right)

2022 Junior State Championships Well done to all juniors in this event on their performance and sportsmanship displayed. Thank you to the parents/carers/family/coaches/clubs and districts who supported the juniors so they could attend this event. Thank you to Cameron King from North Toowoomba Bowls Club for his assistance along with volunteers from the North Toowoomba, Toowoomba and Club Toowoomba Bowls Clubs. All six days were livestreamed, thank you to Robbie Allan and Brian Marshall along with other commentators including Des Kemp, Kerry Green, Katelyn Inch and Ryan Burnett. Thank you to the Toowoomba Regional Council, Sunblessed Sunscreens and J Carroll Club Promotions for their ongoing support of this event. Congratulations to the ten girls and ten boys invited to attend a junior camp in April. BQ Board and AGM Nominations closed on January 31 for the role of Vice President, Director of Finance and two Board Directors on the Bowls QLD Board. Details of nominations received will be in the March Bowler. The Bowls QLD AGM will be held on Wednesday, March 16. State 8 a Side Mixed Event Bowls Queensland has established a new State-wide Interclub “8 a Side Event” set to commence in 2022, starting at club, through to district level, then onto group playoffs and culminating in State Finals. This 8 a Side Event will encompass club sides of four women and four men contesting women’s pairs, men’s pairs and mixed fours disciplines. Each club who wishes to enter a side will have an intraclub playoff if needed. If a club only has one side to nominate, they will automatically progress. Successful club sides will then advance to district playoffs with the winning club side advancing to group playoffs. The successful club side from each of the eight group playoffs will contest the State Finals to be played on Thursday and Friday, November 3-4 2022 at a venue to be advised. Bowls Queensland must be notified of group winners by Monday October 10 2022. District/groups will need to coordinate a timeframe for club/district/group playoffs to be completed in line with this date. Please find Conditions of Play for this new interclub 8 a Side Event on the Bowls QLD website. Bowls QLD Event Hosting Expressions of interest are open for any clubs interested in nominating to host the following Bowls QLD events: 2022 State District Mixed Pairs, 2022 State Champion of Club Champion Finals Series, 2022 State Pennant Finals, 2022 8 a Side Mixed Event. Expressions close on February 14. Live Streaming Bowls Queensland will be livestreaming all of our events in 2022. The livestreaming will use the Bowls Queensland Facebook page platform and will also be accessible through the Bowls Queensland website under the events tab (for those not on Facebook). To enlarge the screen, click on the game you would like to watch and then hover your mouse cursor on the bottom right corner and as per the red arrow below, click on “Click to enter fullscreen”; here you can also click on the speaker icon to activate/turn on the sound to hear the commentary. If you are waiting for a new live game to appear on the page, don’t forget to refresh the page regularly to load it. Some games may take a moment to load and become clear, depending on your internet speed. Many clubs are now running these livestreams on their club house TVs which is great for their patrons. Thank you to the Bowls Gold Coast Tweed Media team for livestreaming Bowls Queensland’s events. Brett Wilkie

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Junior State Championships

Junior State Championships - January 16-21, 2022

By Peter Rookas

It was superb summer weather in Toowoomba when the Bowls Queensland 2022 Junior State Championships kicked off on Sunday, January 16. A record 83 junior bowlers journeyed the length and breadth of Queensland to the Darling Downs for the third successive year. From Weipa in the far north to Broadbeach and the Tweed District, young bowlers and their support ‘crew’ (families) converged on the garden city for a week of championship bowls.

Sunday, January 16

Held across North Toowoomba, Toowoomba Bowls Clubs and Club Toowoomba, the first event was the Fours Sectional play followed by the semi-finals on Sunday, January 16 with Hayden Oster’s and Cody Gerick’s teams qualifying for the gold medal match and Wyatt Martin’s and Todd Brain’s teams making it through to the bronze medal match held on Tuesday, January 18.

Fours Semi-Final Scores

• Jonty Millard, Oliver Corken, Sophie Allan, Hannah Oster defeated Cooper Sutton, Samuel Collier, Dakota Brindle,

Wyatt Martin 18-14 • Lacey Gerick, Travis Pearce, Riley Gerick, Cody Gerick defeated Charlie Mens, Zachary Flood, Jack Chergwin, Todd

Brain 18-17

MONDAY, January 17

The Under-15 and Under-18 Pairs sectional play and semi-final was played at North Toowoomba Bowls Club on Monday, January 17. Brothers Trent and Thomas Brehmer along with Brody Carter and Bryce Jarrett defeated their opponents to make their way into the gold medal final in the Under-15 category, while Riley and Lacey Gerick with Rhys Gillman and Nash Godfrey qualified for the bronze medal final match. The Under-18s played sectionals and postsectional matches with the semi-finals due to be played the next day (Tuesday).

Junior State Championships

U15 Pairs Semi-Final Scores

• Bryce Jarrett, Brody Carter defeated Nash Godfrey, Rhys Gillman 21-18 • Thomas Brehmer, Trent Brehmer defeated Lacey Gerick, Riley Gerick 16-11

TUESDAY, January 18

it was down to the business of winning medals on the first day of finals. The day got underway in very humid conditions, under laden skies and with a gentle breeze from the north east. A somewhat heavy morning dew made the green a little slower, even after a cut and roll. The Under-15 Open 3-Bowl Pairs finals took centre stage at the start of the day’s proceedings, alongside the semi-finals of the Under-18 Open 3-Bowl Pairs. The Under-15 Gold Medal match between the Brehmer brothers Thomas and Trent (Algester Bowls Club in Brisbane) and the Pialba pair Bryce Jarrett and Brody Carter lived up to all of the pre-game hype and was a ‘cracker’ of a match. The Brehmer siblings jumped out of the blocks quickly, adjusting to the slightly slower greens, to shoot to a 4 – 0 lead before being reeled back in to 4-all and then trail 5 – 4. The Algester connection hit back quicky to lead 10 – 5 and looked to be cruising but some deadly bowls from Brody Carter locked the scores up again

Thomas Brehmer & Trent Brehmer (Gold U15 Pairs)

Bryce Jarrett & Brody Carter (Silver U15 Pairs) Lacey Gerick & Riley Gerick (Bronze U15 Pairs)

at 10 – all. It was then shot for shot to 13-all before the Brehmers looked to have snatched the gold medal with a 15 – 13 lead on the last end and holding shot. It was down to the last bowl and Carter again rose to the occasion to push the shot off kitty, hold his ground and claim a second shot to tie the match up at 15 – all. The Brehmers won the crucial toss for the mat and sent the kitty long. Thomas put in three very good lead bowls but Carter was not to be denied and edged in close to ensure a measure for the shot. Trent Brehmer then played the shot of the match, trailing the kitty close to the ditch and despite Carter’s valiant attempt, the Brehmer brothers secured the Under-15 Open Pairs Gold medal, much to the delight of the big crowd in attendance. The play-off for the Under-15 Open Pairs Bronze medal was nearly all one-way traffic. Sunshine Coast Kawana siblings Lacey and Riley Gerick were never headed by Nash Godfrey and Rhys Gillman and ran out comfortable winners with a score of 25 – 8.

U15 Pairs Final Scores

• Thomas Brehmer, Trent Brehmer (gold medal) defeated Bryce Jarrett, Brody

Carter (silver medal) 16-15

• Lacey Gerick, Riley Gerick (bronze medal) defeated Nash Godfrey and Rhys Gillman 25-8 Meanwhile, it was ‘game on’ with the Under-18 Open Pairs semi-finals. In a ‘nip & tuck’ affair, the pairing of Olivia Rothwell and Caysee Wilson was always going to be hard to beat, with Rothwell the defending Queensland U18 Singles champion. But up against the girls was the Ty Jesberg/Lachlan Moore combination, with Jesberg the defending U18 Boys Singles champion. As expected, there was never more than a shot or two in the contest and the girls held their nerve to edge out the boys 18 – 17 over the 18 ends. The other semi-final saw the favoured Oliver Corken and Cody Gerick combination prove more than a handful for Jack Chirgwin and Todd Brain and the former cruised to a 19 – 16 victory.

U18 Pairs Semi-Final Scores

• Oliver Corken, Cody Gerick defeated Todd Brain,

Jack Chirgwin 19-16 • Olivia Rothwell, Caysee Wilson defeated Ty

Jesberg, Lachlan Moore 18-17 The stage was set for a ‘shoot-out’ with Queensland’s best Under-18 boys and girls to do battle in the gold medal match. Oliver and Cody were quick to pounce on the first end for 3-shots and an early lead, but the girls were unfazed and hit back with 2-shots on the next end. It then went shot for shot before Olivia and Caysee edged ahead 9 – 7. This seemed to fire the boys up

Urangan - Fraser Coast

Cody Gerick & Oliver Corken (Gold U18 Pairs)

Caysee Wilson & Olivia Rothwell (Silver U18 Pairs) Jack Chirgwin & Todd Brain (Bronze U18 Pairs)

and a change of tactics to long ends saw Oliver and Cody hit back for two consecutive 3-shot ends, to put them 13 – 9 up after 12 ends and now the pressure was on the girls. A mistake by Corken with a ditched kitty on the 13th end opened the door for Rothwell and Wilson to play a short end. They held shot until Gerick played a superb last bowl draw and the moment was gone. Despite pressing hard to reduce the margin, the girls had the wind taken out of them on end 16 when Cody played two precision bowls for 2-shots and a 17 – 11 lead. On a never-say-die final end, Cody Gerick again displayed why he is one of the best juniors in Queensland and played a superb draw to hold 3 shots after good lead-up bowls by Corken. A Wilson drive reduced the final end to 2-shots, but it was a gold-medal winning score of 19 – 11 to the boys. The Bronze Medal Under -8 Pairs match was in the balance until late in the contest when Todd Brain and Jack Chirgwin claimed a rare 5-shots and closed out the contest against Ty Jesberg and Lachlan Moore, winning 20 – 10.

U18 Pairs Final Scores

• Oliver Corken, Cody Gerick (gold medal) defeated Olivia Rothwell, Caysee Wilson (silver medal) 19-11 • Todd Brain, Jack Chirgwin (bronze medal) defeated Ty Jesberg, Lachlan Moore 20-10

The last medal matches of the day were for the Open Fours Junior Championship. The Gold Medal match was billed as an ‘All Star’ final with siblings Lacey, Riley and Cody Gerick teaming up with Travis Pearce on one side while Sophie Allan, Jonty Millard, Oliver Corken and Hayden Oster completed the opposition. Cody Gerick proved the perfect skip and capitalised on some good team play to open up a handy 13 – 3 lead. Opposition Skip Hayden Oster was doing everything in his power to keep his team in the match but to no avail. His team’s bowls were going agonisingly close over the final ends and even he couldn’t ‘pull a rabbit out of the hat’ with some of his superb play. The final score of 22 – 7 to the Gericks’/Pearce combination belied the closeness of the match; however, Pearce was a stand-out in the match, with sublime touch and superb weight control. The Bronze medal Under-18 Fours clash was a contrast, with a nail-biting finish down to the last end. Cooper Sutton, Sam Collier, Dakota Brindle and Wyatt Martin looked to have the match sewn up until a late surge by Charlie Mens, Zac Flood, Jack Chirgwin and Todd Brain tied the contest up at 17-all, after a big 4-shot result on the 15th end. Martin’s team remained calm and came up with their own 4-shot result on the very next end before Brain and his team made them sweat, closing to within two shots and a final score line of 21 – 19. Thank you to the Toowoomba Region, J Carroll Club Promotions, Sun Blessed 1st End Sunscreen and North

Toowoomba Bowls Club, Toowoomba Bowls Club and Club Toowoomba for their support of this event.

Travis Pearce, Riley Gerick, Cody Gerick & Lacey Gerick (Gold Fours)

Sophie Allan, Jonty Millard, Hayden Oster & Oliver Corken (Silver Fours) Dakota Brindle, Wyatt Martin, Sam Collier & Cooper Sutton (Bronze Fours)

Open Fours Final Scores

• Lacey Gerick, Travis Pearce, Riley Gerick, Cody Gerick (gold medal) defeated Jonty Millard, Oliver Corken, Sophie

Allan, Hayden Oster (silver medal) 22-7 • Cooper Sutton, Sam Collier, Dakota Brindle, Wyatt Martin (bronze medal) defeated Charlie Mens, Zac Flood, Jack

Chirgwin, Todd Brain 21-19

For more photos & video coverage of the 2022 Junior State Championships go to our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/BowlsQld

Oliver Corken, Samuel Collier & Ty Jesberg (Triples Gold)

Riley Gerick, Travis Pearce & Cody Gerick (Triples Silver) Sophie Kiepe, Stella Palmer & Travis Gibbs (Triples Bronze)

WEDNESDAY, January 19

A record 19 teams lined up for the 2-bowl Triples Championship on Day 4 of the 2022 Bowls Queensland Junior Championships. Two games were contested on Tuesday January 18 and the rest throughout Wednesday. To make it to the medal games, the players had to contest a marathon 72 ends. Another balmy day in the Garden City greeted bowlers and their families for what was sure to produce some great action and the young players did not disappoint, with the quality and standard of bowls played first-class. Favoured sides progressed steadily through the rounds, however there were a few surprises. The combination of Hayden Leslie, Olivia Rothwell and Caysee Wilson was edged out by Sophie Kiepe, Travis Gibbs and Stella Palmer in a close encounter while the Ty Jesberg team with Oliver Corken and Sam Collier had to fight hard to make their way to the semi-finals. Early favourites Riley Gerick, Travis Pearce and Cody Gerick were also pressed but once in the semi-final, made no mistakes with a comprehensive 24 – 6 victory over the Stella Palmer skipped side to claim a place in the gold medal final. It was a similar case for the Ty Jesberg skipped team. Once in the semi-final, they dominated the Phoebe Russell, Bryce Jarrett, Brody Carter combination before taking a 24 – 13 victory and setting up an epic showdown. As expected, the gold medal final was a cracker. Jesberg, the reigning Under-18 Singles champion, quickly stamped his authority on the game, snapping up 2 shots on the first end and it was obvious he had brought his ‘A’ game for

the Triples after a sluggish performance earlier in the week. Gerick’s team hit back with a shot on the second end but then an uncharacteristic mistake on the next end proved costly and the Jesberg team extended the lead to 5 – 1. Another exchange of shots and then 2 shots to Jesberg & Co and it was 8 – 2 after 6 ends. It was clearly obvious that both teams were well matched and it was shot for shot again until a crucial mistake on the 12th end made by Cody Gerick. With the score at 10 – 6 in favour of Jesberg, Gerick drew the shot with his first bowl only to see Ty sneak inside him. Using a fraction too much weight, Gerick missed Jesberg’s shot bowl and in doing so, pushed his team’s bowl away to be 2 down leaving Jesberg with a bowl in hand. Ty played a sublime draw to the kitty and the score jumped out to 14 – 6. As expected, Gerick’s team made a comeback but a crucial shot to Sam Collier put the score at 15 – 10 with only three ends remaining. When Gerick’s team looked to be closing in, Jesberg produced his best bowl of the game to snatch 2 shots for a 17 – 10 lead and the match closed out with Gerick picking up a token final end 2 shots for a 17 – 12 result. Jesberg was the star of the match, but Collier and Corken made solid contributions in a great team effort. Cody Gerick again bowled well and received good support from his brother Riley and Travis Pearce. The surprise packet of the medal matches was the Stella Palmer team against the Brody Carter team in the bronze medal encounter. Stella’s team skipped away to what seemed an unassailable lead on 15 – 2 before Brody & Co. stormed back to get within one shot at 15 – 14. That effort seemed to take its toll and a 4 shot end by Palmer’s team shortly after the fight back took the wind out Carter’s sails and Palmer raced away to a 25 – 14 victory. From a nervous young girl from Roma in 2020 to a supremely confident skip in 2022, Stella Palmer was a shining light in this fine team win.

Triples Final Scores

• Oliver Corken, Samuel Collier, Ty Jesberg (gold medal) defeated Riley Gerick, Travis Pearce, Cody Gerick (silver medal) 17-12 • Sophie Kiepe, Travis Gibbs, Stella Palmer (bronze medal) defeated Phoebe Russell, Bryce Jarrett, Brody Carter

25-14

Riley Gerick U15 Gold

U15 Boys Singles Champions Ben Harrison (Silver), Riley Gerick (Gold) & Brody Carter (Bronze)

FRIDAY January 21

After five days of superb junior bowls action in the 2022 Bowls Queensland Junior Championships, it all came down to the final day (Friday January 21) and the staging of the ‘Blue Ribbon’ events; the medal finals in Singles for Under-15 Boys & Girls and Under-18 Boys & Girls. Players and spectators were hoping that the freak weather event of Thursday wouldn’t repeat itself, when visibility was almost non-existent due to fog and the lights had to be turned on at 10:30am. The day’s play got underway at 8.30am with the Under-15 Girls Gold medal match and the Under 18 Girls Gold/Silver and Bronze medal contest. The Under-15 Girls Bronze medal was decided on Thursday, when Kawana’s Lacey Gerick proved too strong for Roma’s Mia Haylock, to claim her place in the Gold/Silver final against Gympie’s Tilah Mason. At 12-years of age, Gerick was always going to find the task daunting. Mason skipped away to an early 8 – 2 lead and extended that lead to 14 – 2 before Gerick settled the nerves and began to fight back. Slowly the gap narrowed but Mason’s start was too much to overcome for young Lacey; the final score line 21 – 13 and a very deserved win to Tilah Mason.

Ben Harrison U15 Silver

Brody Carter U15 Bronze

Tilah Mason U15 Gold

U15 Girls Singles Champions Lacey Gerick (Silver), Tilah Mason (Gold) & Mia Haylock (Bronze) Lacey Gerick U15 Silver

Mia Haylock U15 Bronze

Ty Jesberg U18 Gold

U18 Boys Singles Champions Cody Gerick (Bronze), Ty Jesberg (Gold) & Jack Chirgwin (Silver)

The Under-18 matches were a contrast with Zayah Morgan of Capalaba always in control on the Bronze medal match against Sophie Kiepe. Morgan jumped out of the blocks quickly to establish a commanding 13 shot lead before closing out the match 21 – 7. Meanwhile, just two rinks away, Chloe Runge (Glasshouse) and Hannah Ogden (Burnett) were locked in an enthralling battle for Gold and Silver. Chloe pounced early for a 4 shot lead before Hannah clawed her way back to level at 6-all. Then it was shot-for-shot until Hannah got a ‘mini break’ of 15 – 12 and then 18 – 15. Runge was not going to be denied and drew level at 18 – all and then held three shots for game and had one hand on the Gold medal. With her last bowl in hand, Ogden remained calm and played a superb forehand draw to finish just inside two of Runge’s shot bowls and reduce the score to one shot and 19 – 18 in favour of Runge. Another tight end followed which saw Ogden hang on for the shot and the scores were locked at 19 – all. Ogden then held shot and in what seemed a cruel twist of fate for Runge, Ogden’s last bowl looked destined to be through the head but a fortunate collision with her own short bowl, rolled that bowl up to claim 2 shots and the Gold medal win 21 – 19. It was an enthralling match that could’ve gone either way and each girl was more than deserving of the Gold medal.

Jack Chirgwin U18 Silver

Cody Gerick U18 Bronze

Hannah Ogden U18 Gold

U18 Girls Singles Champions Chloe Runge (Silver), Hannah Ogden (Gold) & Zayah Morgan (Bronze) Chloe Runge U18 Silver

Zayah Morgan U18 Bronze

It was then time for the Under-15 and Under-18 Boys finals to take centre stage and they didn’t waste time in delivering a spectacular array of shot making. The Bronze medal matches went pretty much to script, with Pialba’s Brody Carter turning on an exhibition class to oust Riley Paterson of Glasshouse 21 – 3 in the Under-15 match. Carter had the ‘touch’ right from the opening end and never gave Paterson a chance to get settled. The Under-18 Bronze was a slightly closer affair between Sam Collier of Broadbeach and Kawana’s Cody Gerick. Collier took a solid 9 – 6 lead but then became a ‘spectator’ as Gerick’s ‘hot hand delivered an emphatic 21 – 11 victory. The Under-18 Gold medal encounter saw defending champion Ty Jesberg, now a Tweed Osprey, take on Glasshouse ‘surprise packet’ Jack Chirgwin. While Jesberg was favoured to contest the final, Chirgwin left a trail of very good players in his wake to secure his place in ‘the big dance’. And he was on song early, setting up a ‘mini break’ of 10 – 6. This seemed to ‘fire up’ the defending champ and in the blink of an eye, Jesberg powered to 10 – all and then found another gear to career away to a 21 – 12 victory in his final year as a junior. But it was the Boys Under-15 Gold medal final that was to capture the attention of the huge crowd that had stayed on to watch the Girls & Boys Singles finals. It was a case of ‘David & Goliath’ with the small in stature Ben Harrison of Paradise Point up against the lofty Riley Gerick from Kawana. And it was ‘David’ (Ben) that came out blazing, shooting to a 10 – 2 lead and then 13 – 8 before ‘Goliath’ (Riley) came to life and started to chip away at the lead. Very quickly scores were locked at 15-all before Harrison made another move to 17 – 15. Gerick again stepped up and it was 18-all. It was amazing bowls, with both players taking the kitty back on numerous occasions. Gerick secured the breakthrough to get to 20 – 18 and despite a last gasp shot by Harrison to get to 19, Gerick was resolute in closing out the match to claim the Gold medal.

Singles Final Scores

• U15 Boys Riley Gerick (gold medal) defeated Ben Harrison 21-19; Brody Carter (bronze medal) defeated Riley

Paterson 21-3 • U15 Girls Tilah Mason (gold medal) defeated Lacey Gerick (silver medal) 21-13; Mia Haylock (bronze medal) • U18 Boys Ty Jesberg (gold medal) defeated Jack Chirgwin (silver medal) 21-12; Cody Gerick (bronze medal) defeated Sam Collier 21-11 • U18 Girls Hannah Ogden (gold medal) defeated Chloe Runge (silver medal) 21-19; Zayah Morgan (bronze medal) defeated Sophie Kiepe 21-7

Bowls Queensland is happy to announce the following juniors (10 girls & 10 boys) have been invited to attend a training camp in April, when a Junior Squad will be announced to represent Queensland in the U18 QLD vs NSW Test Series (held in August). Congratulations to all!

Girls: Stella Palmer (Roma), Chloe Runge (Glasshouse Mountains), Dekota Brindle (Darra Cementco), Sophie Kiepe (Club Helensvale), Sophie Allan (Club Helensvale), Holly Anderson (Cunnamulla), Mia Haylock (Roma), Lacey Gerick (Club Kawana), Corinne Stallan (Cooktown) and Keira Powell (Tweed Heads). Boys: Kane Nelson (Belmont Services), Cody Gerick (Club Kawana), Travis Pearce (Kenilworth), Sam Collier (Broadbeach), Oliver Corken (Thuringowa City), Hayden Oster (Kandanga), Jack Chirgwin (Glasshouse Country), Todd Brain (Cunnamulla), Wyatt Martin (Gayndah) and Corey Marshall (Club Helensvale).

Note: A new Junior Development Program is soon to start at Club Kawana, led by New Zealand Champion Katelyn Inch. This program aims to provide a pathway for juniors to reach their potential, with exciting opportunities for developing players to represent their club, district, State and country. Commencing on February 27, players will develop a range of skills to fast track their progress. Contact Katelyn Inch (0423 359 716) or Kurt Brown (0402 164 936) for more information.

Officiating and Conditions of Play

A special welcome back to bowls and as we are still negotiating our way through the various Covid-19 restrictions, I wish you all a very safe, enjoyable and healthy 2022. As we return, I am sure we will be all involved in various competitions and social bowls as well as many officiating duties and I do wish you all the best in whatever you are involved in during 2022. The most important issues that will come up in the near future will be: • Conditions of Play • Weather Conditions • Duty of care to all officials and players.

Conditions of Play:

January saw the start of many events at State, district and club levels with all these events having various Conditions of Play to suit each event. That is why it is especially important that all officials and players read the conditions for each event they enter or are officiating. It is also a good idea to highlight various Conditions of Play that you feel that you need to be fully aware of. The main laws to read are as follows:

Section 5.2 – Game Regulations: (Page 91)

• Law 57: Regulations for play: (Page 91) • Law 57.1 – Domestic Regulations: (Pages 91, 92, 93) with the following explaining the regulations that

Member National Authorities can make to cover the following aspects of the sport: • Laws 57.1.1 to 57.1.3 • Law 57.2 - Conditions of Play: (Page 93) with the following Laws explaining what controlling bodies must decide on what Conditions of Play are necessary to govern their competitions: • Laws 57.2.1, 57.2.2 and 57.2.3 • Appendix A 1 – Conditions of Play: (Pages 95/ 96) with the following also explaining what the controlling bodies must decide on the Conditions of Play for an event before details of the event are publicized. The following conditions must be available to umpires and to entrants who ask for them and must be clearly displayed at all venues throughout the course of the event and must at least include the following: A.1.1, A.1.2, A.1.3 to A.1.3.10,

A.1.4 to A.1.4.17.

Weather Conditions:

Another critical issue that players, officials and spectators experience at this time of the year is the weather. Conditions can vary throughout our State and Australia, and it also becomes an issue for umpires and officials to consider their decision taking into account the Duty of Care to all players, officials and spectators.

It is an extremely hard decision, and one cannot please everyone, however players, officials and spectators safety is to remain the paramount consideration. The full Bowls Queensland Extreme Weather Policy is on the Bowls Queensland website under the following: “About” – “Governance” – “Policies” and I recommend, as it is important, that all umpires, officials and clubs have a copy of the policy as it sets out the following: • Introduction • General Guidelines • Hot Weather • Wet/Cold Weather • Lightning • Sun Protection

Another particularly important reminder is that we all need to remain hydrated and drink plenty of water. Water has many important roles in the body and is required to maintain blood volume, regulate body temperature, and lubricates your joints.

All clubs have water available at the bar or

containers near the rinks so please look after yourselves during the various weather conditions.

Duty of Care to all Officials and Players:

This is also important and is a requirement that all umpires and officials read and sign the Officials’ Code of Ethics and Code of Behavior when submitting their various application forms. Full details of these ethics can be found on pages 68 and 69 of the Officiating Manual for Marker, Measurer and National Umpire or a copy can be printed from the Bowls Queensland website under “Forms” – Umpire/Coach – The Officials’ Code of Behavior and I also recommend that all umpires, officials and clubs have a copy of this document as it covers many aspects of our game.

I hope the above is of assistance to you during the months ahead and please remember if you wish to become a national marker, measurer, umpire or are due for reaccreditation, please contact your district umpire committee who will be pleased to assist you with all the information required to submit your application.

We’d like to welcome the new Regional Bowls Manager for Central QLD, David Barnes. David will be contributing to the Development column in the Queensland Bowler magazine with fellow RBMs, Lesley Bates and Micheal Sorrensen.

David’s first article for the Bowler magazine, “How is your business moving?” is about remembering to ask ourselves important questions about our club and how to see our club through others’ eyes. Welcome David!

How is your business moving?

By David Barnes

I know most of us think that our club is a sporting club but in reality our clubs are businesses and these businesses need to run at a profit to ensure the long term future of the business. There are a number of questions we need to ask ourselves to assist with growing our businesses.

1. Is my business running at a profit?:

All members who have an interest in the club should know and understand if the club where they are members is running profitably or not. 2. If not, why not? What is costing the club money and what needs to be done to reduce this loss? This is where we need to do some navel gazing and think about what we are doing to attract new members to the club. 3. How does the club look to our patrons? A lot of the time I used to walk through my club from a door not used by our patrons. I had to change my attitude and see what they see when they walk through the door. How is the carpet? How is the lighting? How is the welcome? How is the smell, does it smell like the seventies/eighties? How are the amenities, clean and smell fresh? How is our food offering if we have one? If we wouldn’t feed it to our family, why would we expect someone else to eat at our club? 4. What am I doing to help our club? Behind every club there are hardworking volunteers. What am I doing to help my club? It doesn’t have to be for a day or a week, every little bit helps. If you are handy at something then lend a hand. If you aren’t handy, like me, then come along and learn something new and offer some camaraderie on a working bee day. 5. What do we do to thank our wonderful volunteers? As previously stated, hardworking volunteers are the lifeblood of our club. They don’t do it for monetary gain but to help the club out, so what do we do to say thanks?

Do we put on a sausage sizzle, give them a coffee or cold beverage? Have a Christmas party at the end of year? 6. How do we let all our members know what is happening and what is coming up? Emails and social media are a great way to keep the community engaged. If potential patrons see something that looks like fun on a regular basis, then we are more likely to visit. Theme nights can be an inexpensive way of setting up a fun night. 7. If we have staff, how happy are they? Have a chat with the team when you are there. They have as much buy-in as we do, as this is their livelihood. We need to ensure the club is a friendly and inviting experience for everyone who comes through the door. 8. Entertainment, what do we have? Do we have raffles, jag the joker, barefoot bowls, jack attack, music, charity nights, morning teas, Melbourne Cup? The list is only limited by our imagination. We need draw cards to have patrons come into our businesses. 9. Do we have a future plan (strategic)? We need to be planning for years ahead and not just next week or tomorrow. Where would like our club to be in five years time and what can we do to be there realistically without damaging our club financially? Remember we are at our club because we love it and the lifetime sport of bowls. ENJOY!!!

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